Manchester bomber’s dad insists his son is INNOCENT of concert atrocity because ‘we don’t believe in killing’ – as fiend’s brother is arrested amid claims of his ‘own suicide terror plot’
THE dad of the Manchester suicide bomber insisted his son was innocent just moments before he was dramatically arrested by masked men during a TV interview – as new pictures emerge of the terrorist’s younger brother brandishing a firearm.
Bomber Salman Abedi’s brother Hashem, 20, has been arrested on suspicion of Islamic State links in the wake of the massacre of 22 innocent people at Manchester Arena on Monday night - with reporting claims he had been planning his own massacre.
Security sources in Libya have claimed Hashem had been followed for more than month on suspicion of plotting his own atrocity, according to The Mirror.
The officials have alleged that suicide bomber Salman transferred 4,500 Libyan Dinar to Hashem hours before he detonated a nail bomb at the end of Ariana Grande concert.
The dad of the Manchester suicide bomber insisted his son was innocent and about to become an uncle just moments before he was dramatically arrested by masked men during a TV interview on Wednesday.
Local counter-terrorism authority Rada arrested Hashem with spokesman Ahmed Bin Salem saying: "We have evidence that he is involved in Daesh (ISIS) with his brother.
"He was in contact with his brother and he knew about the attack."
It has since been reported terrorist Salman, who was born in Britain to Libyan parents, was reportedly known to MI5 and is said to have “proven” links to ISIS.
But dad Ramadan Abedi denied his son is linked to militants or the suicide bombing.
He said: "We don't believe in killing innocents. This is not us."
Mr Abedi said he spoke to his son five days ago and insisted he sounded “normal” as he prepared for a trip to Saudi Arabia.
He said Salman was planning to head from Saudi Arabia to Libya – which he visited a month-and-a-half ago – to spend the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with family.
Seven people have been arrested in relation to Monday night's attack, with Abedi confirming his older son, Ismail, was arrested in England on Tuesday morning.
Three people were arrested in Manchester this morning, with a fifth person arrested in dramatic scenes in Wigan this afternoon after being spotted with a suspicious package.
Younger brother, Hashem Abedi, was also arrested in Tripoli today, with counter-terrorism forces swooping on the young man on suspicion of Islamic State links.
A photograph of the young brother has since emerged, with the young man grappling with what appears to be a machine gun.
The devastating list of victims killed in the bombing has continued to grow today, including a teen couple, a 14-year-old girl and an off-duty cop.
The horrific attack came as:
- The Sun launched '' appeal and donated £100,000 to get it going
- At least 22 people died and a further 64 were injured, with 20 still "critical"
- Terrorist named as British-born Salman Abedi, 22, who was 'known to MI5'
- Hashem Abedi, the younger brother of Salman Abedi, was arrested in Tripoli today
- A fifth man has since been arrested as part of the probe
- Photographs of the nail bomb said to have been used in the terror plot were revealed today
- Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it's "likely" Abedi "was not doing this on his own"
- Cops raided two addresses and arrested Abedi's brother Ismail, 23
- Bomber's dad Ramadan Abedi denied his son is linked to militants or the suicide bombing
- Three more men have been arrested across the city this morning
- Police are investigating "a network" linked to the bomber amid reports killer was a 'mule'
- French interior minister said bomber is believed to have travelled to Syria and had "proven" links with Isis
- Theresa May raised the UK threat level to "critical"
- The Government has ordered up to 3,800 troops on the streets to support the police
- Victims included an eight-year-old girl and an aunt who shielded her niece from blast
- The Queen praised the people of Manchester for their compassion
- Ariana Grande's world tour was cancelled
Members of the community have since revealed concerns that they had flagged Abedi's behaviour with authorities five years ago.
Father Mr Abedi fled Tripoli in 1993 after Muammar Gaddafi's security forces issued an arrest warrant for him, eventually seeking asylum in Britain.
He has returned to his home country and is the administrative manager of the Central Security force in Tripoli.
But a former Libyan security official has claimed the elder Abedi was himself once a member of an armed group later revealed to have links to al-Qaeda.
Abdel-Basit Haroun said today that he personally knew the former refugee who he claims was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in the 1990s.
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The group was later listed as a terrorist organisation by the UN after it emerged it had ties with al-Qaeda.
Haroun said the father belongs to an extreme sect of Salafist Islam, from which al-Qaeda and the ISIS hail.
Cops today revealed the person who made the bomb Abedi used in his cowardly attack could still be at large.
Armed cops were pictured raiding a property in central Manchester as the PM Theresa May raised the UK threat level to “critical” for the first time in 10 years.
Survival stories have surfaced in the wake of the attack, with witnesses revealing the chaos that unfolded after the show.
More than 900 troops have been deployed around the UK's streets in response to the terror attack.
Investigators believe British-born bomber Salman Abedi, 22, may be part of a wider network of ISIS-inspired terrorists which includes a bomb-maker.
Special Forces have already been deployed to Manchester to help in the hunt for accomplices of Abedi, who murdered 22 concert-goers at the Manchester Arena in Britain’s worst terrorist atrocity for 12 years.
It is the first time since 2003 that troops are deployed on the country's streets.
That happened after MI5 spooks learned of an imminent attack by al-Qaeda to bring down a passenger jet with anti-aircraft missiles at Heathrow Airport.
It is the first time Britain has been on maximum terrorist alert since 2007, when a blazing car loaded with gas canisters was driven into Glasgow Airport.
Mrs May acted on the advice of the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre after chairing two meetings of the Cobra emergency committee.
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Abedi grew up in the Whalley Range area, close to a girl's high school which hit the headlines in 2015 when 'terror twins' Zahra and Salma Halane fled to ISIS-controlled Syria.
Neighbours have told how Abedi, who is the second youngest of four children, started acting "strangely" in the weeks before the terrorist atrocity.
He was reportedly seen chanting "Islamic prayers loudly in the street" outside his home in the south of the city.
School friends have told how Abedi was a Muslim who had grown a beard in the past year.
The attack came on the fourth anniversary of the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby and just two months after four were slaughtered when a Hyundai 4x4 driver mowed down people on Westminster Bridge, central London.